Will Ostrom and Jim Valdes prepare to launch the last profiling float into an eddy. (Photo by Alison Heater, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
The science crew of R/V Knorr Cruise KN192-01. From left to right: Chief Scientist Amy Bower, Senior Engineering Assistant Will Ostrom, Senior Engineer Jim Valdes, WHOI graduate student Dave Sutherland, freelance writer Donovan Hohn, Perkins School science teacher Kate Fraser. (Photo by Alison Heather, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Approaching Greenland
Air temperature: 2ºC 35.6º F
Sea surface temperature: 6.3ºC 43.4ºF
Sea state: choppy, some waves
Kate's last full day at sea
We are off the coast of Greenland! The sun is trying to peek through the clouds and the sea is calmer. We are cleaning the lab in preparation for leaving the ship. Some equipment will be sent by air back to Woods Hole, other gear will be sent by ship. The supplies that the scientists need right away, such as sea water samples, will flown home. Lab tables are being wiped clean. Earlier today I swept the floor.
As we are wrapping up our work here, the routine activities of life on the ship continue. Kyle from the engine room checks the fuel levels. The maintenance crew fixes the coffeepot. The painters are applying a fresh layer to the walls. After dropping us off in Greenland the ship will pick up a new team of scientists and continue on to Brazil
Meanwhile, even as we are cleaning, we check our computers for the latest data. Amy is excited! The Perkins float has collected some data! Soon she will know if the float is actually inside an eddy. Now she can learn more about the characteristics of these spinning balls of water! She is sitting at her computer eating an apple and studying data.
Tomorrow we land in Nuuk, on Greenland's west coast. We will stay overnight on the ship in the harbor. Early on Saturday morning we will fly to Kulusuk on the east coast of Greenland. Then we fly to Reykjavik, Iceland, where we will spend the night before flying home to Boston on Sunday
